The Storm After The Calm
by Kiggy3
Summary: Power Rangers Ninja Storm - Hunter/Tori - One was broken from the start, one was broken by war. Sharing a mutual interest in each other, can one become two and heal the wounds? (Takes place at the end of Ninja Storm)
1. Imagery

_**Power Rangers is not something that is owned by me, as unfortunate as that is.**_

 _ **This introduction is obviously rated K, but with thoughts of where I may take this who knows what it'll end up as.**_

 _ **Taking place after the Ninja Storm finale, this story will follow the ship of Hunter/Tori. After reading TheDescension's stories I've become a massive shipper of this ship, (does that make sense?!), and she's granted me permission to invade and write my own yippee!**_

 _ **The title is a play on both the saying and the title of the Ninja Storm Finale, I haven't just lost it. Here's the introduction ramble...**_

* * *

Tori thought it nice to have Blake's endearment showered on her during their year as Rangers.

It took away from the reality of being the earth's protectors, as well as that of being enrolled in a strict ninja academy. It allowed her some downtime as a ' _regular_ ' young woman of her age.

With their nact of not always being the cleanest ninjas, you could say that they always had fun - but there was still the underlying truths.

So, in her view, talking, laughing, and somewhat flirting with the Navy Thunder Ranger was a pleasurable respite.

She'd had relationships before - well, if you could call them that. A couple of week-long engagements with the opposite gender that you experience as a young teenager had to count as something.

As they progressed, Blake's approaches felt similar to her previous experiences, and as they continued her moderate interest began to decline. Everything from not informing her about Leanne to spraying a motherload of cheap perfume in her face when her sarcasm had obviously told that it was disgusting had turned her away.

He seemed too over-eager, felt too temporary - was too much like the others.

Upon her epiphany, Tori's heart grew weary.

As a then-seventeen-year-old, she obviously had a lot of time ahead of her to find love. However, she had been toyed with and misunderstood, and was beginning to believe she would never have a meaningful relationship in her life.

Thinking of meaningful relationships, Tori couldn't even imagine herself in one.

Truthfully, the Ranger work and seeing the world almost be destroyed had broken her. She was willing to train the next generation of ninjas, but any real love for it or the world around her was long-gone.

' _It's an omen that I am better alone_ ' Tori had pondered, trying to keep her spirits high so that she was never questioned.

The word ' _alone_ ' had connotations. It perfectly described him - always sat on that rock alone, pondering his own thoughts.

They'd never properly spoken, with him taking a backseat so his brother could do his best to impress Tori.

There was that day at the beach though, on her birthday, where upon being challenged to be the first one to the water she had to take a second after turning to face him. His toned, slim fame could easily be observed due to the lack of a shirt, while his messy blond mop and lopsided grin provided a calming aesthetic - a world away from Blake and others regimented and uptight style.

They had connected for a moment. Gazing into each other's eyes, they both saw a little glimmer. A glimmer that had been passed over.

Sensi Hanson cursed under her breath as she became aware of the slow rising smile that was beginning to grace her lips at the thought of the Thunder Ninja Academy's new head teacher.

Trying to return to previous thoughts before the deviation was seemingly possible, because as soon as she tried Tori found Hunter in her mind once again, causing an added redness in her cheeks as his beach appearance passed through her mind once again.

With him taking the aforementioned backseat for his younger brother, Tori hadn't had many opportunities to socialise with Hunter. He spent most of his time brooding, trying to pick up the pieces of his broken start in life.

' _Great! I'm interested in such a miserable, anti-social dork!_ '

* * *

Hunter was never the most social type, so it's no surprise that he hadn't spent that much time with Tori. His brother being interested in her hadn't exactly helped said matter.

In truth, it never really worried him too much. He bounced off of the guys more anyway, having the same ideology as them that girls were ' _chicks_ '. With there being only one female on the team, there hadn't been much persuasion to change that.

But just being on the same team as Tori had seen his views change. For one, he saw how she could stand on her own two feet and fight for herself. For two, he saw a change in his brother.

Being older, they both had just slept around previously, not being able to go into anything further due to their eroded selves. Then they met and joined the Wind Rangers, and Blake had solely set his sights on that cute blue one.

All-in-all, he became to gain an increasing respect for the opposite gender.

His brother's chasing of Tori had amused Hunter, for he was acting so differently to his normal self - going on dates for one. And even with his lack of judgement when it came to understanding emotions, he could see that his advances were reciprocated.

Blake even began to spend some time away from his brother, with her. Hunter had been surprised at himself when he became somewhat jealous of his brother, but he ignored it as he did with seemingly any new emotions he came across.

But he couldn't completely rid of it, and the jealousy continuously popped-up in his mind here and there. His brother seemed to be settling and getting into the groove of life, unlike him. And he had to admit, Tori was rather beautiful - it was a shame he never really socialised with her.

There was that day at the beach though, on Tori's birthday, where upon challenging her to be the first one to the water he had to take a second after she turned to face him. Her slim figure and long, similarly blond locks had radiated a tone of pure innocence. In that instant she seemed at peace, and it was a moment he wanted to capture and relive time and time again. He saw why his brother was drawn to this young woman, and in the moment understood his brothers want settle into a groove.

They had connected for a moment. Gazing into each other's eyes, they both saw a little glimmer. A glimmer that had been passed over.

Hunter still hung back while Blake tried his best with Tori, but after that day he noticed a change.

Not being too in-touch with emotions meant he had trouble reading said change, but Tori seemed to be losing interest while Blake was becoming too over-eager with the promise of Factory Blue on the horizon - the idea of motocross fame seemed to be getting to his head little by little.

Hunter had made sure to watch out for Tori after that moment on the beach, the reason why he actually noted the difference between the two.

It wasn't something he made a mental note to do, or knew he was doing - it was done almost subconsciously. Inwardly, he had found peace in that moment with her, and in his mind he wanted to hang onto it with the tightest grip possible.

Looking to the sky from his brooding rock, a warm smile graced Hunters lips, for he was proud of his Ranger colleague for graduating from the Wind Ninja Academy and going on to be a Sensi. He wondered whether the feeling was mutual, and that Sensi Hanson was proud of him becoming the head teacher of the Thunder Ninja Academy.

The squawk of a passing bird drew the ex-Crimson Thunder Ranger out of his pondering trance and, upon feeling the smile upon his face, shook his head violently.

He was definitely not one to get sentimental over a girl, especially not now when he had the freedom to roam, learn, and find himself with Lothor gone.

Yet Tori still twinkled and danced in the back of his mind, and Hunter began to think the maybe the best place to roam, learn, and find himself was right here.

' _Damn you Tor.._ '

* * *

 _ **And that's it for the first chapter, hope you enjoyed it!**_

 _ **It seems customary for me now to have long rambles for each character as the first chapter of my stories, but imo it helps sets the scene and also helps me with writing the story as a whole.**_

 _ **I'm not as acquainted with the Ninja Storm characters as the RPM ones which may make the story a little weaker than my others but hey, it's another Hunter & Tori story so who cares!**_

 _ **Thanks again to TheDescension for letting me invade! :P**_


	2. Sentiment

_**Power Rangers is not something that is owned by me, as unfortunate as that is.**_

 _ **Thank you to Karkoolka who pointed out that 'Sensei' was spelt wrong in the first chapter - turns out spellchecker can lie to you! Thought it looked iffy but got told it was correct so I went with it...**_

 _ **This chapter takes place directly after the previous, hence Tori being in the same place. Just like 'Particles In Motion' I'm hoping to keep this continual as a pose to skipping random amounts of time in-story for the 'juicy bits'. Enjoy!**_

* * *

Hunter wasn't a sentimental-type guy. You could tell from the way he walked, the way he talked, the way he acted - he was solitary, aside from his brother that is.

Blake had always been the one that stood by him, acting as everything he needed.

There wasn't much need for anything or anyone else, and there wouldn't have been time anyway with the Bradley's world constantly crashing down around them.

However, they had somewhat settled when they joined with the Wind Rangers. Becoming part of the team had given the brothers a clear purpose and path in their lives - they no longer had to wander endlessly through wastelands, not knowing what direction the day would send them in.

Ninja Ops had been the centre of their settlement.

Sure, they'd got a little place up on the hill just a few blocks from the beach, but Ninja Ops is where they spent most of their time and where they truly began to open their lives.

They both became sentimentality attached to Ninja Ops.

Well, _they_ might have been the wrong word with how quickly Blake ran off after Lothor was finally defeated.

The appeal and love of fame had seemingly overtaken him, for after his test with Factory Blue he was being billed as the next young star.

He didn't even properly say goodbye to his brother. It was done via a phone call on the plane, not even face-to-face.

And that had rattled Hunter, for his brother was the one thing he was attached to for most of his life, and vice versa, and he had just dumped him like there was never any bond between them at all.

It angered him but, being his brother and having been through so much together, Hunter wouldn't allow negative emotions to cloud Blake in his mind so thus swatted it away.

So, with his brother basically running out of his life, he'd returned to the only other piece of emotional attachment that he had.

Berating himself for feeling so affectionate about the place, Hunter took the last few heavy, sentimental steps into Ninja Ops - to find Tori blushing furiously at a wall.

Stood with his back foot trailing on the last step, a faint smirk gripped the corner of the man's lips as he shook his head in confusion at the weirdness in-front of him, giving a quick snort of laughter also.

"Tor?" Hunter questioned, trying not to scare her out of this trance-like state.

"BWAAAHHRGH!" was the ungodly shriek he was given in response.

There'd gone all hope of not surprising her too much.

With a few flailing limbs and a thud, Tori slipped off the edge of the table that graced the main portion of the room, straight onto the floor.

A groan of pain followed.

All amusement on Hunter's face vanished.

Acting on instinct, he darted to the her aid.

Skidding across the floor as he knelt down on one knee beside her, he slipped his arm behind her neck, cradling her opposite shoulder in his hand. He used this position to gently pull her upper body upwards so that she was no longer laying down on the floor.

They both held their positions in silence for a few moments, heavy breaths from the pair the only thing to be heard.

"Didn't think my head teacher uniform looked that bad?!" Hunter quipped, looking down at the young woman he was now supporting, "Ok?"

Tori's face just reddened even more at the situation, giving a small nod with a faint "Yeah" to indicate that there had been no damage done.

Pulling out of Hunter's support, she stood up with a grimace and turned to face him, stretching out her arms and shoulders.

She could see his judging gaze in the corner of her eye. Embarrassed, Tori thought quick to change the subject.

"So what brings you down here? Don't you have to start your duties today?"

"This time next week" the Thunder Ninja replied bluntly, completely ignoring the first question, "Didn't you start today?"

"Yeah, today's an induction day for the new students who haven't found their element yet. I took them this morning. Was good fun,very different to being a student though-"

"And then you came down here to stare at a wall?"

"I was doing my best Hunter impression-" started Tori, the expression on the male's face becoming one of confusion - "-I was brooding!"

Hunter rolled his eyes as sighed in an exaggerated motion as Tori stuck out her tongue at him and coupled it with a playful punch in the arm.

She skipped to the stairs, doing her best to get away so she wasn't questioned about her actions any more.

Tori turned around partway up as if to invite him to come with her. However, he just stood in a trance in the middle of Ninja Ops, observing his surroundings with his arms crossed.

"Hunter?"

Nothing.

"Hunter!"

"HUH, what?" he spluttered, spinning around with a moderate jump.

With a giggle at his actions, Tori continued, "Heading out for a pizza, wanna come? Feel like treating myself after managing to survive the first day"

"As long as you're paying Sensei Hanson - you're the one who's already started working anyway"

"Fine!" was the dramatically delivered response.

* * *

Blue Bay Harbour's beachfront is littered with various different outlets all looking to cater for the vast population, while obviously trying to make a quick buck from tourists. Said outlets are always bustling, and tonight was no different.

Aside from a few comments about the various activities they saw whilst battling through the crowds on the promenade the duo were mostly silent, allowing the cool evening breeze to comfort them after the heat of the day.

The first few cafes and restaurants that they came across were full, causing them to walk straight past.

The next few had spaces, but again there was no thought of stopping.

The final couple were the quietest of all, yet they didn't stop until they reached the last one.

Tori stepped forward to be able to see the menu better, while Hunter stood back and stared.

He was unsure of this moment due to its normality, and thus grew anxious for the future. Who knew what would happen now that he didn't have to wander in search of answers and revenge?

Worries would have to be evaluated later though, as Tori was now re-approaching him.

"Nothing on that menu really tempts me. Can't believe I'm saying this, but I fancy a greasy takeaway pizza"

"My place is just up the road" Hunter offered, smirking at the revelation that a junk-food hater was craving a fatty takeout.

"Sounds good, I'll order on the way there. What's the address for the delivery?"

"Just tell'em it's for Hunter"

"You order that much takeout that they know you that well?!"

"Ninjas need fuel Tor!"

With an amused and sarcastic shake of the head Tori dialled the number.

Ordering the food took up most of the walk, meaning there wasn't any real time for talk. Hunter didn't really mind, for he got to collate his thoughts on the days events in peace before there was inevitably more conversation over dinner.

In truth, he was actually amused by Tori's actions and find enjoyment and relaxation in her company. However, his main thoughts right now were based around making sure he got his free pizza.

* * *

Hunter's place was small, but cosy small. It's sole purpose was just to house the Bradley brothers instead of being an essential hub for their lives, so it did it's job.

A narrow, unfurnished hallway brought them into the house, with the a compact kitchen area on the left and a set of stairs on the right. There was a surprisingly large living area for that size building being at the end of it - one which Hunter ushered Tori into.

Said living area contained a wooden table and chairs directly to the left of its entrance, while after a few steps on the right there was a sizeable crimson coloured ' _U_ '-shaped settee - no prizes for guessing which brother brought the furniture. The sofa faced a television on the opposite side of the room which stood atop of a set of draws, one which wooden finish resembled that of the aforementioned table. Walking straight through the room from the hallway would bring you to a set of double doors that would lead you onto an outside patio section. Aside from that, there wasn't much else, the house being obviously very minimalist since their roaming had left them with very little in the way of belongings.

The young woman was slightly taken aback upon viewing the residence. It wasn't surprising that Hunter had his own place, for she had her own, but it was the extent of the place - her apartment only had a living space with a doorway that led to a bedroom.

Sitting down on the couch, Tori sunk much deeper into it than she expected, shifting the reason for her surprise.

After again flailing a few limbs in shock, she looked up at the older male who just laughed while opening a collapsible table that had been stored under the couch so that they could eat easier while watching the TV.

It took a few breaths for Tori to compose herself before she questioned Hunter on how he'd manage to acquire such a decent home while being a Ranger.

"Dead parents. Inheritance" was the sharp and rough reply with absolutely no eye contact.

The doorbell rang, to which Hunter sprang up to answer.

Viciously cursing herself for asking about what she could've guessed, Tori thought about apologising but decided to just drop the subject.

Returning with their food, Hunter dropped each cardboard pizza box separately onto the newly created table and took a seat next to his fellow Sensei.

He opened the box and removed a slice of pizza, shovelling near-enough all of it into his mouth as he caught the few notes that got thrown his way seen as he paid for the food at the door.

"You're disgusting!" Tori teasing yelled, catching sight of his actions out of the corner of her eye.

Smiling with a full mouth of food Hunter stood and left for the kitchen, returning with two bottles of beer - one of which he threw to Tori.

"Okay, you're _NOT_ disgusting!"

"You sure are - pineapple on pizza?!"

"It's refreshing! Plus, I need to have at least something healthy to counteract this"

Hunter just tutted, sat down with aplomb, and switched on the TV.

A few channel changes later and the final stages of a motocross race graced the screen.

"Motocross, pizza and beer - is this what you do with you evenings Hunter Bradley because, if so, we need to talk.."

"Look who's talking with their mouth full now" he jibed, causing Tori to swiftly swallow so she wouldn't be caught doing it again, "And tonight yeah, Blake's up in the 250s next"

* * *

Beers flowed as Hunter and Tori cheered on their brother and friend respectively for the rest of the night from hundreds of miles away.

You could call it a bonding experience, for both felt more at ease in each other's company now after not having many opportunities to spend time together as Rangers.

But for now, the drunk pair were in a state of delirium over Blake's first win.

* * *

 _ **Hope you enjoyed reading this chapter! Unsure on it overall personally - wanted to give a sense of normality between the pair. Writing this did give me more inspiration for the future though so onwards and upwards!**_


End file.
